Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.
control n. 控制 smoke n. 烟
desolate adj. 荒凉的 threaten v. 威胁
surrounding adj. 周围的 destruction n. 破坏，毁灭
flood n. 洪水，水灾 authority n. （常用复数）当局
grass-seed n. 草籽 spray v. 喷撒
quantity n. 量 root n. 根
century n. 世纪 patch n. 小片
blacken v. 变黑，发暗
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Jeremy Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his great sense of humour -- everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Jeremy's closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing that Jeremy loves. He prepared the speech carefully and went to the wedding with Jenny. He had included a large number of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go home. Jeremy was a little disappointed by this but he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadn't. Jeremy asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!
circle n. 圈子 admire v. 赞美，钦佩
close adj. 亲密的 wedding n. 婚礼
reception n. 招待会 sort n. 种类
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Children who play truant from school are unimaginative. A quiet day's fishing, or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and over again, is usually as far as they get. They have all been put to shame by a boy who, while playing truant, traveled 1,600 miles. He hitchhiked to Dover and, towards evening, went into a boat to find somewhere to sleep. When he woke up next morning, he discovered that the boat had, in the meantime, traveled to Calais. No one noticed the boy as he crept off. From there, he hitchhiked to Paris in a lorry. The driver gave him a few biscuits and a cup of coffee and left him just outside the city. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border. There he was picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities. He has surely set up a record for the thousands of children who dream of evading school.
record-holder 纪录保持者 truant n. 逃学的孩子
unimaginative adj. 缺乏想像力的 shame n. 惭愧，羞耻
hitchhike v. 搭便车旅行 meantime n. 其间
lorry n. 卡车 border n. 边界
evade v. 逃避，逃离
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When a light passenger plane flew off course some time ago, it crashed in the mountains and its pilot was killed. The only passengers, a young woman and her two baby daughters, were unhurt. It was the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on the ground. The woman knew that the nearest village was miles away. When it grew dark, she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the children inside it, covering them with all the clothes she could find. During the night, it got terribly cold. The woman kept as near as she could to the children and even tried to get into the case herself, but it was too small. Early next morning, she heard planes passing overhead and wondered how she could send a signal. Then she had an idea. She stamped out the letters 'SOS' in the snow. Fortunately, a pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.
thick adj. 厚的 signal n. 信号
stamp v. 跺，踩 helicopter n. 直升飞机
scene n. 现场 survivor n. 幸存者
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After reading an article entitled 'Cigarette Smoking and Your Health' I lit a cigarette to calm my nerves. I smoked with concentration and pleasure as I was sure that this would be my last cigarette. For a whole week I did not smoke at all and during this time, my wife suffered terribly. I had all the usual symptoms of someone giving up smoking: a bad temper and an enormous appetite. My friends kept on offering me cigarettes and cigars. They made no effort to hide their amusement whenever I produced a packet of sweets from my pocket. After seven days of this I went to a party. Everybody around me was smoking and I felt extremely uncomfortable. When my old friend Brian urged me to accept a cigarette, it was more than I could bear. I took one guiltily, lit it and smoked with satisfaction. My wife was delighted that things had returned to normal once more. Anyway, as Brian pointed out, it is the easiest thing in the world to give up smoking. He himself has done it lots of times!
entitle v. 以......为名 calm v. 使镇定
nerve n. 神经 concentration n. 集中，专心
suffer v. 受苦，受害 symptom n. 症状
temper n. 脾气 appetite n. 胃口，食欲
produce v. 拿出 urge v. 力劝，怂恿
satisfaction n. 满意，满足 delighted adj. 欣喜的
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I used to travel by air a great deal when I was a boy. My parents used to live in South America and I used to fly there from Europe in the holidays. A flight attendant would take charge of me and I never had an unpleasant experience. I am used to traveling by air and only on one occasion have I ever felt frightened. After taking off, we were flying low over the city and slowly gaining height, when the plane suddenly turned round and flew back to the airport. While we were waiting to land, a flight attendant told us to keep calm and to get off the plane quietly as soon as it had touched down. Everybody on board was worried and we were curious to find out what had happened. Later we learnt that there was a very important person on board. The police had been told that a bomb had been planted on the plane. After we had landed, the plane was searched thoroughly. Fortunately, nothing was found and five hours later we were able to take off again.
parent n. 父（母）亲 flight attendant 空中乘务员
frightened adj. 害怕，担惊 curious adj. 急于了解，好奇的
bomb n. 炸弹 plant v. 安放
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When he had killed the guard, the prisoner of war quickly dragged him into the bushes. Working rapidly in the darkness, he soon changed into the dead man's clothes. Now, dressed in a blue uniform and with a rifle over his shoulder, the prisoner marched boldly up and down in front of the camp. He could hear shouting in the camp itself. Lights were blazing and men were running here and there: they had just discovered that a prisoner had escaped. At that moment, a large black car with four officers inside it, stopped at the camp gates. The officers got out and the prisoner stood to attention and saluted as they passed. When they had gone, the driver of the car came towards him. The man obviously wanted to talk. He was rather elderly with grey hair and clear blue eyes. The prisoner felt sorry for him, but there was nothing else he could do. As the man came near, the prisoner knocked him to the ground with a sharp blow. Then, jumping into the car, he drove off as quickly as he could.
prisoner n. 囚犯 bush n. 灌木丛
rapidly adv. 迅速地 uniform n. 制服
rifle n. 来福枪，步枪 shoulder n. 肩
march v. 行进 boldly adv. 大胆地
blaze v. 闪耀 salute v. 行礼
elderly adj. 上了年纪的 grey adj. 灰白的
sharp adj. 猛烈的 blow n. 打击
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Busmen have decided to go on strike next week. The strike is due to begin on Tuesday. No one knows how long it will last. The busmen have stated that the strike will continue until general agreement is reached about pay and working conditions. Most people believe that the strike will last for at least a week. Many owners of private cars are going to offer 'free rides' to people on their way to work. This will relieve pressure on the trains to some extent. Meanwhile, a number of university students have volunteered to drive buses while the strike lasts. All the students are expert drivers, but before they drive any of the buses, they will have to pass a special test. The students are going to take the test in two days' time. Even so, people are going to find it difficult to get to work. But so far, the public has expressed its gratitude to the students in letters to the Press. Only one or two people have objected that the students will drive too fast!
strike n. 罢工 busman n. 公共汽车司机
state v. 正式提出，宣布 agreement n. 协议
relieve v. 减轻 pressure n. 压力，麻烦
extent n. 程度 volunteer v. 自动提出，自愿
gratitude n. 感激 Press n. 新闻界
object v. 不赞成，反对
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I have just received a letter from my old school, informing me that my former headmaster, Mr. Stuart Page, will be retiring next week. Pupils of the school, old and new, will be sending him a present to mark the occasion. All those who have contributed towards the gift will sign their names in a large album, which will be sent to the headmaster's home. We shall all remember Mr. Page for his patience and understanding and for the kindly encouragement he gave us when we went so unwillingly to school. A great many former pupils will be attending a farewell dinner in his honour next Thursday. It is a curious coincidence that the day before his retirement, Mr. Page will have been teaching for a total of forty years. After he has retired, he will devote himself to gardening. For him, this will be an entirely new hobby. But this does not matter, for, as he has often remarked, one is never too old to learn.
inform v. 告诉，通知 headmaster n. 校长
contribute v. 捐助，援助 gift n. 礼物，赠品
album n. 签名簿，相册 patience n. 耐心
encouragement n. 鼓励 farewell n. 告别
honour n. 敬意 coincidence n. 巧合
total n. 总数 devote v. 致力于
gardening n. 园艺 hobby n. 爱好，嗜好
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It must have been about two in the morning when I returned home. I tried to wake up my wife by ringing the doorbell, but she was fast asleep, so I got a ladder from the shed in the garden, put it against the wall, and began climbing towards the bedroom window. I was almost there when a sarcastic voice below said, 'I don't think the windows need cleaning at this time of the night.' I looked down and nearly fell off the ladder when I saw a policeman. I immediately regretted answering in the way I did, but I said, 'I enjoy cleaning windows at night.'
'So do I,' answered the policeman in the same tone. 'Excuse my interrupting you. I hate to interrupt a man when he's busy working, but would you mind coming with me to the station?'
'Well, I'd prefer to stay here,' I said. 'You see. I've forgotten my key.'
'Your what?' he called. 'My key,' I shouted.
fast adv. 熟（睡） ladder n. 梯子
shed n. 棚子 sarcastic adj. 讽刺的，讥笑的
tone n. 语气，腔调
参考译文：
我回到家时，肯定已是凌晨两点左右了。我按响了门铃，试图唤醒我的妻子，但她睡得很熟。于是，我从花园的小棚里搬来了一个梯子，把它靠在墙边，开始向卧室的窗口爬去。快要爬到窗口时，下面一个人用讽刺的口吻说：“我看不必在夜里这个时候擦窗子吧。”我向下面看去。当我看清是一个警察时，差一点儿从梯子上掉下去。我回答了他的话，但马上又后悔不该那样说，我是这样说的：“我喜欢在夜里擦窗子。”
“我也是的，”警察用同样的声调回答，“请原谅我打断了您。当一个人在忙着干活时，我是不愿意去打断他的，但请您跟我到警察局去一趟好吗？”
“可我更愿意呆在这儿，”我说，“您瞧，我忘带钥匙了。”
“什么？”他大声问。 “钥匙！”我喊道。
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